Berhampur: Police on Thursday arrested nine persons, including a brother and sister, in connection with the abduction and killing of a 47-year-old real estate developer in Gopalpur area of Ganjam district about a week ago.The highly decomposed body of the victim, Sudhir Kumar Patra (47) of Satyanarayanpur near Gopalpur, was recovered from Ketamani hill under Sorada police station limits on Wednesday.Inspector general of police (southern range) Niti Sekhar said the main accused are Nibedita Patra (23) and her brother Tushar Patra (19), niece and nephew of the deceased. The case involves charges of kidnapping for ransom, criminal conspiracy, extortion, destruction of evidence and murder. While Nibedita has completed her post graduation, Tushar is a IInd year BBA student.Preliminary investigation revealed that a property dispute between the families of the deceased and the prime accused triggered the crime. Their father died in June last year, police said, adding that the siblings allegedly hired contract killers to eliminate their uncle.Police said one of Nibedita’s boyfriends, identified as Kalu Charan Pradhan (28) of Badaborsingi, assisted her in arranging the contract killers.According to police, the victim was abducted at gunpoint on April 15 evening from Dura area while he was returning home. He was first taken near Mathura in Polasara, after which the accused switched vehicles and transported him to Ramapada forest near Buguda.SP (Ganjam) Subhendu Patra, who is also in-charge of Berhampur, said the victim was brutally assaulted with wooden planks and firearms were discharged near him to terrorise him. The assault was allegedly recorded on video and sent to his wife, demanding a ransom of Rs 2 crore. Due to severe injuries, the victim died at the spot.After his death, the accused transported the body in a car and dumped it near Ketamani hill in an attempt to destroy evidence, police said, adding that the group later went into hiding at different locations.Besides the brother and sister, those arrested include Kalu Charan Pradhan (28) of Badaborsingi; Jitun Polai (33) of Alapur near Hinjili; Narayan Pradhan (28) of Ramanda near Buguda; Ashish Mohapatra (25) of Biranchipur, Buguda; Subham Nayak (20) of Kharida near Hinjili; Subham Gouda (20) of Saru; and Surya Pratap Singh (28) of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, currently residing in Surat. Police said criminal cases were pending against Jitun Polai and Narayan Pradhan.Two cars, a country-made 7.65 mm pistol and 14 mobile phones were seized from the accused. Police said the accused frequently changed SIM cards to evade detection. The SP said some more persons were involved in the crime and efforts are on to trace and arrest them.
